The CIA has a history of murder, of helping to overthrow democratically elected governments, of aiding dictators and torturers. “We don’t do that anymore” is not a credible statement. The only true thing they said is that they are professional liars.

And our own recently outed torture program, about which we had a thread.They'd be way cooler without the weird butt stuff and unqualified torturers.

You don't have to go that far back. This is hot off the presses.

Quote

C.I.A.’s Afghan Forces Leave a Trail of Abuse and Anger

The fighters hold the line in the war’s toughest spots, but officials say their brutal tactics are terrorizing the public and undermining the U.S. mission.

By Mujib Mashal

Dec. 31, 2018

NADER SHAH KOT, Afghanistan — Razo Khan woke up suddenly to the sight of assault rifles pointed at his face, and demands that he get out of bed and onto the floor.

Within minutes, the armed raiders had separated the men from the women and children. Then the shooting started.

As Mr. Khan was driven away for questioning, he watched his home go up in flames. Within were the bodies of two of his brothers and of his sister-in-law Khanzari, who was shot three times in the head. Villagers who rushed to the home found the burned body of her 3-year-old daughter, Marina, in a corner of a torched bedroom.

The men who raided the family’s home that March night, in the district of Nader Shah Kot, were members of an Afghan strike force trained and overseen by the Central Intelligence Agency in a parallel mission to the United States military’s, but with looser rules of engagement.

Ostensibly, the force was searching for militants. But Mr. Khan and his family had done nothing to put themselves in the cross hairs of the C.I.A.-sponsored strike force, according to investigators.

It was clear that the raiding force had “committed an atrocity,” said Jan-mir Zazai, a member of the Khost provincial council who was part of the government investigating team. “Everyone we spoke to said they would swear on the innocence of the victims.”

I’m actually not bothered by the fact that the rogues took the tour of the CIA. I am extremely bothered by the suggestion that they might help the CIA. The vast majority of CIA employees never kill or torture anyone, never work as field agents. But it is an agency that does the dirty work of the administration in office, and all those clerical employees and analysts and consultants are working to support the work of the agency, which comes down to undermining the self-determination of foreign nations by killing and torturing people and by spreading disinformation. The SGU is in the business of promoting the truth. The CIA, by its own admission, is in the business of spreading falsehoods. Another thread asked what it would take for us to stop supporting the SGU. If they begin doing consulting work for the CIA that could do it for me.

The bit about the CIA visit was maybe the most unskeptical thing I've heard on the SGU to date. That they could get so excited about a trip to self-professed professional liars baffles me mightily. Not a great look for skeptics.

The CIA segment was by far the worst thing I've heard on SGU so far (though admittedly I've only been following a few years).

It’s not true that global warming denial is an American-only issue. The entire Australian government (hopefully they’ll be kicked out of office next year) is in global warming denial. Or at least pretending that Australia doesn’t need to do anything much. The government insists Australia will meet its (inadequate) Paris pledge of reducing CO2 emissions by 26-28% on 2005 levels by 2030 in a ‘canter,’ by reducing it to 26% and confining it to electricity production (which is around 1/3 of emissions).

The previous Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (who did accept the science, but who was beholden to the denialists in his government) got rolled and retired from parliament causing a byelection in his very safe seat. And the government candidate lost the seat against an independent female (same-sex married, deliciously - the present PM is a Christian fundamentalist who’d campaigned against same-sex marriage in the postal plebiscite) candidate, who’d campaigned on doing more about global warming. The first time the conservatives didn’t hold the seat.

As an addition, one of the conservative dinosaurs, Peter Dutton, who couped against the elected prime minister, has just given an interview in which he derided Malcolm Turnbull for not putting into practice his beliefs. He stood for nothing, which is true enough. Much the same situation with the current Australian government.

Just to add to this, if some of the other countries represented here in this forum don't think that progressive Australians are hoping for change, have a listen to this (and keep in mind, that this guy is now our Prime minister!).

Damien

Logged

Do not fear God, fear ignorance. For ignorance will lead you to fearing 'God' (and a whole bunch of other whacky shit!)

Well, if there's one thing I've always wanted the SGU to be associated with, it's professional liars!

Yeah, like magicians, for example. Wouldn't want anyone in skepticism associating with them.

I think Randi called himself an “honest liar.” A stage magician is not really a liar unless he claims his tricks are really magic. Most stage magicians do not make this claim. Most let it be tacitly understood that they are performing tricks and illusions. “Illusionist” is another name that stage magicians go by.

The CIA trades in deception. They are more like Uri Geller, who claimed to be an actual psychic and used the tools of the illusionist to deceive people into thinking he had powers that he did not.

I'm really amused that after the CIA people literally told them "we are professional liars", they believed all the BS they got on the Osama storyincluding a silent helicopter. seriously, a silent helicopter.

You've got to believe to achieve-

« Last Edit: January 19, 2019, 02:37:57 AM by Beef Wellington »

Logged

"Computers don't make errors. What they do, they do on purpose" - Dale Gribble